Drying machine



Sept. 27, 1960 R. c. PARKES Re. 24,871

DRYING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 15, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet l Q Q v anmnf Fig. I

INVENTOR.

RALPH C. PARKES ATTORNEY 3. Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. 15, 1956wmm w wn lnnnclunu Fig. 3

INVENTOR.

RALPH C. PARKES W ATTORNEY Sept. 27, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 OriginalFiled Aug. 13, 1956 M m m m w 9 L v|.1\|l41\l.l\\|1 w d r N D 5 T m u Aon n J I "--.-L.Hi 3F l l I l l l I l l l l I l l l I l l I l l l l l ll l l I l l I l l II C "5.1..- v. w NM g A .wm E 1 R m? 1. v nv I I l lI l I ll m J 0V 1% n fw u n H c C \N RALPH c. PARKES BY ATTORNEY "atentReissued Sept. 27, 1960 DRYING MACHINE Ralph C. Parkes, Glenside,'Pa.

Original No. 2,884,711, dated May 5, 1959, Ser. No. 603,501, Aug. 13,11956. Application for reissue Sept. 17, 1959, Ser. No. 840,784

Matter enclosed in'heavy brackets appears in the original patent butforms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italicsindicates the additions made by reissue.

My invention relates to a machine of the type which may be used fordrying, or for otherwise processing cloth, or other sheet material, bysubjectingit to the action of the desired fluid medium. For example,heated air and/or steam may be used for drying-and/or curing or setting,andchemical reagents can be used for color fixing or for colordevelopment and so on.

Because the nature of the operation performed, and the nature of thematerial treated, have no bearing on the machine, or on the manner ofoperation, hereinafter described, reference will. only be made to thedrying of cloth by means of heated. air. This is by way of example onlyaudit is understood that drying includes other treatments; that cloth"includes other materials and that air includes other media.

One method of drying cloth consists in discharging heated air againstone or both sides of the cloth while the cloth is held in, or is movedthrough, a drying chamber and, assuming the temperature and relativehumidity to be constant, the volume and velocity of the air must beregulated as may be indicated for example, by the thickness of thecloth, by its moisture content, by the degree of drying desired and bythe rate of movement of the cloth through the drying chamber and so on.

It is therefore one object of the invention to produce improved,adjustable, primary nozzles whereby the volume and velocity of the air[discharge] discharged against the cloth may be readily regulated so asto produce optimum results in the quantity and in the quality of thefinished product.

During the drying operation, a positive air pressure prevails in thevicinity of the cloth and a corresponding negative pressure prevails inthe part of the drying chamber from which spent air is withdrawn forreconditioning and recirculation or for exhaust. Because of structurallimitations, and other variable factors, the air pressure potential isnot uniform and when cloth is slack-dried it tends to wander and itfrequently gets air creased with correspondingly defective drying.

It is therefore a further object of the invention to produce improvedadjustable, secondary nozzles whereby the positive air pressure in thevicinity of the cloth may be accurately regulated so as to produceuniform drying and to prevent creasing, shading and so forth.

The nature of the invention is more fully disclosed in the followingspecification and in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a highly diagrammatic, single line, elevational view of amachine embodying the invention and shown as used for drying cloth.

Fig. 2 is a highly diagrammatic, single line, elevational view of thesame.

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged, vertical sectional view showing details ofconstruction.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary plan view showing other details ofconstruction.

The machine illustrated includes a plenum lllwhich is supplied withheated air by means of blowers 11. Plenum 10 communicates with an uppernozzle chamber 12, as shown by arrow 13, and it communicates with alower nozzle chamber .14, as indicated'by arrow 15.

Except for facing in opposite directions, the nozzles in upper and lowerchamber 12 and 14 are formed by means of identical, generally U-shapedducts 16, 18 and 20, and 22, 24 and 26, respectively, which ducts extendfrom one end Wall 28 to the other end wall 30 of each of the upper andlower chambers so that the lengths of the ducts will equal'the width ofthe widest cloth C to be dried in the machine. The ducts 16, 18, 20, 22,24 and'26 are either formed integrally with their respective chambers orthey are suitably secured in position by means, not shown.

As best shown in Figs. 3, the ducts in upper and lower chambers 12 and14 are spaced and the spaces there between provide air discharge nozzlesthrough which the heated air is discharged against the cloth in thedirection of arrows 32 and 34. The opposite end walls 28 and 30 ofchambers 12 and 14 are cut out as at 36 so that the opposite ends of theducts open into the adjacent portions of the drying chamber. The ends ofthe nozzles formed by the spaces between adjacent ducts are closed byportions 40 and 42 of end plates 28 and 30, respectively, which are leftafter said end plates are cut out as at 36. By this arrangement,airreaching upper chamber 12 will flow downwardly between the sides ofadjacent ducts .16, 18 and 20, etc. and corresponding wall portions 40and 42, as shown by arrows 32, and air reaching lower chamber 14 willflow upwardly betweent-he sides of ducts 22, 24 and 26, etc. andcorresponding wall portions 40 and 42, as shown by arrows 34.

In order to regulate the volume and velocity of the heated air, I makeprovision for increasing or decreasing the spaces between the juxtaposedside walls of adjacent ducts to enlarge or to restrict the nozzle formedby said sides. In the preferred embodiment, this is accomplished bymeans of turnbuckles 46 which engage the opposite sides of each duct, inthe manner illustrated in Fig. 3. To permit movement of the sides of theducts, in response to theaction of the turn buckles, the ducts can bemade of flexible material throughout, or the rectilinear marginalportions, which are the only parts which need to be moved, can be hingedto the U-shaped bodies of the duct as at 47. The air discharged againstthe opposite sides of cloth C flows in the direction of arrows 43 intothe juxtaposed ducts and, in the absence of my invention, the air willflow through the opposite open ends of the ducts into the drying chamberfrom which the air is removed by blowers 11 to the suction side of saidblowers.

In order to control the flow of the heated air from the vicinity of thecloth to the drying chamber through the upper and lower ducts, I provideeach of said ducts with battles 48 and 50 which are co-extensive withthe ducts and the pendent ends 52 of which are spaced apart by bolts 56to form outlets 54. By this arrangement, the air discharged through thespaces between the ducts can only flow from the drying chamber throughopening 54. By manipulating bolts 56 in a direction to move the ends 52of baffles 48 and 50 apart, the rate of flow of air from the vicinity ofthe cloth being dried will be increased, as shown in duct 18, and viceversa as shown in duct 24.

From Fig. 4, [is] it will be seen that the baffles in each duct have twoadjustments, one near each end. By this means the eifect of the heatedair on the cloth being dried can be varied as indicated by the progressof the drying operation. For example, if the portion of the cloth 3.which registers with one end of a duct is drying too fast, thecorresponding outlet 54 is enlarged to expedite removal of the heatedair from the vicinity of that portion of the cloth and vice versa. Thisprovides a control which is in addition to the controls which areexercised by adjusting the air discharge nozzles or by regulating thespeed of movement of the cloth or by adjusting the distance between thecloth and the opposite banks of air discharge nozzles.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that, by my invention the volume andvelocity of the air discharged against the cloth, as well as the volumeand velocity of the air exhausted from the vicinity of the cloth can beregulated as may be indicated by their coaction on the cloth or by otherconditions. For example, if it is desired to equalize the air pressure,openings 54 are enlarged, or restricted, according to the rate at whichair is discharged against the cloth. To expedite the operation withoutany regard for other factors, openings 54 are enlarged to the fullestextent. Again, if it is found that chemical reagents are acting for toolong a time on the cloth openings 54 will be enlarged and vice versa.

Thus, the provision of primary control of the air through manipulationof buckles 46 and the provision of a secondary control by manipulationof bolts 56 makes it possible to balance a balanced system with extremeaccuracy and make better control of the drying operation possible inbalanced and in unbalanced systems.

What I claim is:

1. In a drying chamber, at least one plenum, [means] blowers forsupplying fluid under pressure to said plenum, generally U-shaped ductsarranged in spaced parallel relation, with the bight portions of saidducts facing said plenum and with the limbs of said ducts extending awayfrom said plenum, means coacting with the juxtaposed limbs of adjacentducts to form elongated nozzles communicating with said plenumandforming passages for the discharge of fluid from said plenum, theends of said ducts being [opened] open and communicating with [saidplenum] the suction side of said blowers, means for propelling thematerial to be dried past said nozzles transversely of the path of flowof said fluid, pairs of baflles carried by the opposite inner faces ofeach of said ducts, the inner marginal portions of said baffles beingspaced and bent to form spaced parallel flanges forming fluid flowpassageways leading through the ends of said ducts to the suction sideof said [plenum], blowers and means for varying the spaces between saidflanges to vary the size of said passageways to regulate the rate offlow of said fluid away from the vicinity of the material to be dried[to said plenum] thereby to control the volume of fluid acting on saidmaterial as Well as the length of time during which said fluid may acton said material.

2. In a drying chamber, at least one plenum, [means] blowers forsupplying fluid under pressure to said plenum, generally U-shaped ductsarranged in spaced parallel relation, with the bight portions of saidducts facing said plenum and with the limbs of said ducts extending awayfrom said plenum, means coating with the juxtaposed limbs of adjacentducts to form elongated nozzles communicating with said plenum andforming passages for the discharge of fluid from said plenum, the endsof said ducts being [opened] open and communicating with [said plenum]the suction side of said blowers, means for propelling the material tobedried past said nozzles transversely of the path of flow of said fluid,pairs of baffles within said ducts, the inner edges of said bafllesbeing spaced to form fluid flow passageways leading through the ends ofsaid ducts to the suction side of said [plenum] blowers and means forvarying the spaces between said edges to vary the size of saidpassageways to regulate the rate of flow of said fluid away from thevicinity of the material to be dried [to said plenum] thereby to controlthe volume of fluid acting on said material as well as the length oftime during which said fluid may act on said material.

3. The apparatus recited in claim 2 in which the walls of said ducts areflexible and means within said ducts for moving the opposite walls ofindividual ducts toward, or away from, each other to vary the flowcapacity of said fluid discharge nozzle forming spaces to control thevolume and velocity of the fluid discharged through said nozzles againstsaid material.

References Cited in the file of this patent or the origlnal patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,327,452 Williams Jan. 6, 1920 1,590,417 BrunkJune 29, 1926 1,759,804 Pieron May 20, 1930 1,994,220 Hormel Mar. 12,1935 2,225,505 Olfen Dec. 17, 1940 2,700,226 Dungler Ian. 25, 1955FOREIGN PATENTS 432,456 France Oct. 5, 1911

